BR102019020633A2 - actuation cylinder, hydraulic system, system, turbine-type hydraulic machine, pump or pump-turbine and method for operating an actuation cylinder - Google Patents

Abstract

actuation cylinder, hydraulic system, system, turbine-type hydraulic machine, pump or pump and method for operating an actuation cylinder the present invention describes, in particular, an actuation cylinder (10) for controlling the movement of a seal ring (40) of a hydraulic machine, said actuation cylinder (10) comprises a body (18) forming a first chamber (22) provided with a first duct (26) and a second chamber (24) provided with a second duct ( 28) which is designed to receive an actuation fluid through said first duct (26) and said second duct (28), said chambers being separated from each other by a piston (20) connected to an actuation rod (14 ) and able to move in said body in a first direction, in which the volume of the second chamber increases while the volume of the first chamber decreases, and in a second direction, in which the volume of the second chamber decreases while the volume of the p the first chamber increases, said piston provided with a rod (30) connected in said second chamber to an area (20b) of the piston facing said second chamber, said area (20b) having a surface less than an area (20a ) of the piston facing the first chamber.

Description

“OPERATING CYLINDER, HYDRAULIC SYSTEM, SYSTEM, HYDRAULIC MACHINE OF THE TYPE TURBINE, PUMP OR PUMP-TURBINE AND METHOD FOR OPERATING A CYLINDER FOR ACTING

Field of the invention [001] The invention refers to the field of the hydroelectric industry.

Background of the Invention [002] A sealing ring is an optional mechanical component of a turbine, pump or pump-turbine, used to isolate the machine from the upstream water duct in standstill, maintenance and in the event of failure to close of the wicket seal or main mechanical failure and able to cut the flow of passage.

[003] A sealing ring is mainly a cylindrical casing that moves along its longitudinal axis with a fixed stroke from an open to a closed position and, conversely.

[004] The linear stroke of the cylindrical casing is suitable for the turbine, pump or pump-turbine in which the seal ring is installed.

[005] A well-known solution for operating a seal ring is to use several hydraulic cylinders distributed around the circumference of one end of the seal ring, the axis of the hydraulic cylinders being parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical housing.

[006] The hydraulic cylinder bodies are supported by a stationary part of the turbine, pump or pump-turbine and the ends of the operating rods of the hydraulic cylinders are fixed to the circular rod of the cylindrical housing.

[007] A digital and / or hydraulic system controls the simultaneous linear movement of the operating rods of the hydraulic cylinders to move the cylindrical casing, without excessive oscillation and distortion, in order to avoid the jamming of the cylindrical casing in the nearby and

Petition 870190098209, of 10/01/2019, p. 10/27

2/11 damage the hydraulic cylinders, cylindrical casing and stationary parts.

[008] Generally, the seal ring is autoclave or self-sealing and two different pressure levels are used to operate the cylinders.

- a high pressure level to open the gasket, because the cylinders must operate against the weight of the gasket and the differential pressure between the pressure upstream and downstream of the gasket when it is closed;

- a low pressure level to avoid risks of damaging parts in downward movement when the seal ring is closing, because the seal ring closes naturally with its own weight and low pressure helps the closing in case of friction point and prevents mechanical damage reducing stress in the event of blockage by an external element stuck to the seal ring.

[009] It is necessary to reduce the forces or efforts applied to the cylinders that control the seal ring.

[010] State of the art systems build two levels of pressure from the hydraulic system. Different solutions are possible and require many components to create the two pressure levels, basically using two pressure tanks (one per pressure level).

[011] These solutions are complicated, expensive and require a high level of maintenance.

Brief Description of the Invention [012] The invention relates first to a cylinder comprising a body that forms a first chamber with a first duct and a second chamber with a second duct that is designed to receive an actuating fluid through the said first duct and said second duct, said chambers being separated from each other by a

Petition 870190098209, of 10/01/2019, p. 11/27

3/11 piston connected to an actuating rod and capable of moving in the said body in a first direction, in which the volume of the second chamber increases while the volume of the first chamber decreases and in a second direction, in which the volume of the second chamber decreases while the volume of the first chamber increases, said piston being provided with an additional element, for example, a rod or a cylinder, in said second chamber.

[013] Said additional element is connected in said second chamber to an area of the piston facing said second chamber, said area having a surface smaller than an area of the piston facing the first chamber.

[014] Said additional member can be hollow, being limited only by a wall.

[015] In an actuation cylinder according to the invention, said additional element, for example said rod, extends above a top of said body through a watertight opening.

[016] The invention also relates to a hydraulic system, which can be implemented in controlling the movement of a sealing ring of a hydraulic machine, said hydraulic system comprising at least one actuation cylinder according to the invention and the same hydraulic circuit to supply said first chamber through said first duct and said second chamber through said second duct with a fluid at the same pressure.

[017] A cylinder according to the invention thus allows the use of a high pressure level only for opening and closing, which reduces the number of hydraulic components, increasing the robustness and decreasing the cost of the entire system.

[018] The invention also relates to a system for controlling the movement of a seal ring, which comprises a plurality of

Petition 870190098209, of 10/01/2019, p. 12/27

4/11 actuation cylinders, each according to the invention.

[019] The invention also relates to a system for controlling the movement of a seal ring, which comprises a plurality of groups of actuation cylinders, each group comprising at least:

- a first actuation cylinder according to the invention;

- a second actuation cylinder comprising a body that forms a first chamber and a second chamber that are designed to receive an actuation fluid, said chambers being separated from each other by a piston connected to an actuation rod and capable of moving the said body in a first direction in which the volume of the second chamber increases while the volume of the first chamber decreases and in a second direction, in which the volume of the second chamber decreases while the volume of the first chamber increases;

- a hydraulic synchronization member that connects said first chamber of said first actuation cylinder and said second chamber, said second actuation cylinder.

[020] The invention also relates to a hydraulic machine of the type turbine, pump or pump-turbine, which comprises a channel and a sealing ring capable of moving between an opening position and a closing position of at least one channel that supplies water to that channel and:

- a plurality of actuation cylinders according to the invention, each actuation rod being connected to said sealing ring to move it between said opening position and said closing position;

- or a system according to the invention for controlling the movement of said seal ring.

[021] The invention also relates to a method of operating

Petition 870190098209, of 10/01/2019, p. 13/27

5/11 an actuation cylinder according to the invention, in which a fluid with a predetermined pressure (P) is fed to said first chamber through said first duct to move said piston in said second direction and the same fluid with the said same predetermined pressure (P) is fed to said second chamber through said second duct to move said piston in said first direction.

Brief Description of the Figures [022] Figure 1A shows a cylinder according to the invention.

[023] Figure 1B is a cross section of an additional element implemented in a cylinder according to the invention.

[024] Figure 1C shows a cylinder according to the state of the art.

[025] Figure 2 shows a view of the seal ring and its cylinders.

[026] Figure 3 shows a group of 2 cylinders connected as synchronization members.

[027] Figure 4 shows a schematic view of a seal ring and 3 groups of cylinders, each group comprising a cylinder according to the invention.

[028] Figure 5 is a cross section of a hydraulic machine to which the invention can be applied.

Detailed Description of the Invention [029] A cylinder (10) according to the invention is illustrated in Figure 1A.

[030] This comprises a body (18) that forms a first chamber (22) and a second chamber (24), which are designed to receive and evacuate an actuating fluid, such as oil, through a duct (26, 28) . Said chambers are separated from each other by a piston (20). The piston

Petition 870190098209, of 10/01/2019, p. 14/27

6/11 is connected to an actuation rod (14), which must be connected to a sealing ring to activate it between its open and closed position. The first chamber (22) is located on the side of the rod in relation to the piston (20), the second chamber (24) is located on the side opposite to the rod in relation to the piston (20).

[031] The ducts (26, 28) are for connecting each chamber to a hydraulic circuit comprising means of pressurizing fluid, for example at least one pump, and to a source of actuating fluid. A control unit controls the performance of the hydraulic circuit, including the media for pressurizing the fluid. Said control unit can, for example, comprise a processor or a microprocessor, or an electrical or electronic circuit capable of implementing or being programmed to actuate the hydraulic circuit.

[032] Said piston (20) is able to move in the body in a first direction (I) in which the volume of the second chamber (24) increases while the volume of the first chamber (22) decreases and then in a second direction (II) in which the volume of the first chamber (22) increases while the volume of the second chamber (24) decreases.

[033] The piston (20) has two areas (20a and 20b), each perpendicular to directions (I) and (II) which are called the lower piston area and the upper piston area and located respectively on the side of the actuation rod (14) and on the opposite side. A cylinder (10) can be used in any position and the designations lower and upper should not be interpreted as limiting characteristics of the invention.

[034] The upper piston area (20b) is exposed to pressure P to move the piston (20) in said first direction (I) (when connected to a seal ring, said movement in said first direction (I) is to close the seal ring).

Petition 870190098209, of 10/01/2019, p. 15/27

7/11 [035] The lower piston area (20a) is exposed to pressure to move the piston (20) in said second direction (II) (when connected to a seal ring, said movement in said second direction (II ) is to open the seal ring).

[036] The second chamber (24) comprises an additional element (30), for example a rod, connected to said upper area (20b). Said additional element (30) is not mechanically connected to any actuation mechanism. It moves with the piston (20).

[037] This additional element (30) reduces the surface S of the piston area (20b) exposed to pressure (P): in particular, the upper area (20b) of the piston has a lower surface than the surface of the area (20a) of the lower piston; the corresponding force (F) applied to said upper piston area (20b) in direction (I) is also reduced (due to the P = F / S ratio) compared to a cylinder - as in Figure 1B - in which no additional elements (30) is implemented. For example, if said element (30) is a stem, the stress value is adjusted by the diameter of said stem.

[038] As a result, the same pressure (P) can be applied to the upper chamber (24) when the piston (20) is moved in the body in the first direction (I) and the lower chamber (22) when the piston (20) it is moved in the body in the second direction (II): the same pressure results in different forces or efforts applied to the upper piston area (20b) and the lower piston area (20a).

[039] The same hydraulic circuit (50) (Figure 1A) can therefore be implemented to supply both chambers with the same fluid at the same pressure (P), obtaining considerable savings in pumps, tanks, valves ... etc. Through a valve (51), the same hydraulic circuit (50) is connected to the duct (28) (thus supplying the upper chamber (24) with a fluid under pressure (P)) or to the duct (26) (thus supplying the

Petition 870190098209, of 10/01/2019, p. 16/27

8/11 lower chamber (22) with the same fluid at the same pressure (P)).

[040] This also reduces the amount of actuation fluid used to control movement of the piston (20), which means that the hydraulic circuit connected to the duct (28) is simplified.

[041] The height h of the additional element (30) is slightly higher than the height of the seal ring or the stem travel.

[042] The element (30) extends beyond the top portion (21) of the body (18); when in the lowest position of the cylinder, it can also extend beyond the top (21) or be flush with it. An opening in said upper portion is made so that the element (30) can move up and down together with the piston (20). Said opening is watertight (for example, with a gasket (23)), so that the element (30) can move up and down without loss of fluid.

[043] Preferably, the additional element (30) has a circular cross section in a plane perpendicular to either of the directions (I) or (II). But other forms of the said cross section can also be implemented. It is, for example, a cylindrical rod, preferably hollow, which results in less weight. Figure 1B shows a cross section, in a plane perpendicular to any of the directions (I) or (II), of such an empty stem, reference (31) designating its wall that delimits a hollow internal space (33).

[044] The width (d) of said cross section (which is a diameter in the case of a circular section) is calculated depending on the force (F) that must be applied when acting the piston (20) in the direction (I).

[045] The closing of a seal ring connected to the actuation rod (14) is facilitated by the weight of the ring itself, but a force must be applied to the area (20b) to control the movement of the rod (14), in particular to that is not bent. As explained above, using a cylinder (10)

Petition 870190098209, of 10/01/2019, p. 17/27

9/11 according to the invention, this can be achieved with the same pressure as when opening the seal ring.

[046] A cylinder (10 ') according to the state of the art is illustrated in Figure 1C. It has the same reference numbers as Figure 1A, provided with an 'Area (20b') has no additional element (30) in the second chamber (24 ') and the surface of the area (20b') is larger than the surface of the area (20 ^to '). Thus, for the same pressure (P) applied to the area (20b ') and area (20b) (Figure 1A), the force that must be applied when moving the piston (20') in the first direction (I) is more important than the force applied to the piston (20) of Figure 1A when it is moving in the same first direction. This shows that different pressures (P'1), (P'2), requiring different hydraulic systems (50'i), (50'2) (see Figure 1C) must be used in both directions when implementing a cylinder accordingly with the state of the art.

[047] Figure 2 illustrates how several cylinders (10a), (10b), ... according to the invention can be connected (through their actuation rods not shown in the Figure) to a sealing ring (40), in a plurality of locations around its perimeter. A sealing ring (40) has a diameter that is, for example, between 2 m and 15 m. It is, for example, made of steel. Figure 5 shows how each cylinder (10) can be connected to a seal ring (40), as well as to other parts of a hydraulic machine.

[048] According to US 2013/0098237, a system for controlling the performance of a seal ring may comprise several groups of cylinders, each group comprising at least 2 cylinders, the cylinders of the same group being connected by at least one member synchronization.

[049] A cylinder according to the invention can be used in that group of cylinders. Figure 3 shows a group of 2 cylinders (10), (10 '), of which the cylinder (10) is a cylinder according to the invention, the cylinder (10')

Petition 870190098209, of 10/01/2019, p. 18/27

10/11 having a structure according to Figure 1C. The first chamber (22) of the cylinder (10) is connected by a duct (32) to the second chamber (24 ') of the piston (20') of the cylinder (10 '). Preferably, the area (20a) of the piston (20) of the cylinder (10) is approximately equal to the area (20b ') of the piston (20') of the cylinder (10 '). The reference (40) designates the ring to which the actuation rods (14), (14 ') are connected.

[050] The element (30) reduces the force necessary to control the movement of the two cylinders (10), (10 '), the pistons (20), (20') moving in the same direction at the same time.

[051] As illustrated in Figures 4, 3, these groups (10), (10 '), (11), (11'), (12), (12 ') of cylinders are located on the perimeter (C) of a sealing ring (40), two consecutive locations corresponding to cylinders belonging to different groups, two cylinders of the same group being arranged diametrically opposite in the perimeter of the ring. The cylinders (10), (11), (12) are cylinders according to the invention (Figure 1A), each including an additional element (30) in its second chamber, the cylinders (10 '), (11') , (12 ') are cylinders according to Figure 1C, without an additional element.

[052] Examples of hydraulic circuits to control the different groups of cylinders are given in US 2013/0098237.

[053] In a variant, as explained in US 2013/0098237, the cylinders (10), (10 ') of the same group have approximately the same dimensions.

[054] As shown in Figure 5, a hydraulic machine (100), which can be of the turbine, pump or paddle wheel pump type, implementing the invention comprises a paddle wheel (52), the sealing ring (40) and several actuating cylinders (10) (of which only one is visible in Figure 5) according to the invention. The sealing ring (40) is movable along a Y direction, between an open position and a closed position (which is illustrated in Figure 5)

Petition 870190098209, of 10/01/2019, p. 19/27

11/11 of a water supply channel (58) of the paddle wheel. The sealing ring (40) is installed between the fixed guide vanes (42) and the movable wicket doors (41) used to guide the water flow towards the paddle wheel.

Claims (9)

Claims 1. ACTING CYLINDER (10) to control the movement of a sealing ring (40) of a hydraulic machine, said actuation cylinder (10) characterized by comprising a body (18) forming a first chamber (22) provided with a first duct (26) and a second chamber (24) provided with a second duct (28) which is designed to receive an actuating fluid through said first duct (26) and said second duct (28), said chambers being separated from each other by a piston (20) connected to an actuation rod (14) and capable of moving in said body in a first direction, in which the volume of the second chamber increases while the volume of the first chamber decreases and in a second direction, in which the volume of the second chamber decreases while the volume of the first chamber increases, said piston having a rod (30) connected in said second chamber to an area (20b) of the piston facing said second chamber , by having said area (20b) a surface less than an area (20a) of the piston facing the first chamber. 2/3 said first chamber (22) through said first duct (26) and said second chamber (24) through said second duct (28) with a fluid at the same pressure (P). ACTING CYLINDER (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that said additional element (30) comprises a cylinder. 3/3 - a plurality of actuation cylinders, as defined in any of claims 1 to 4, each actuation rod (14) being connected to said sealing ring to move it between said opening position and said closing position; - or a system, as defined in claim 7, for controlling the movement of said seal ring (40). ACTING CYLINDER (10), according to claim 2, characterized in that said cylinder is hollow. ACTING CYLINDER (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said rod (30) extends above the top (21) of said body (18) through a watertight opening. 5. HYDRAULIC SYSTEM for controlling the movement of a sealing ring (40) of a hydraulic machine, characterized by comprising an actuation cylinder (10), as defined in any one of claims 1 to 4, and the same hydraulic circuit (50 ) to feed the Petition 870190098209, of 10/01/2019, p. 21/27 6. SYSTEM for controlling the movement of a sealing ring (40), characterized in that it comprises a plurality of actuation cylinders (10a, 10b), each as defined in any one of claims 1 to 4. 7. SYSTEM for controlling the movement of a sealing ring (40), characterized by comprising a plurality of groups of actuation cylinders, each group comprising at least: - a first actuating cylinder (10), as defined in any one of claims 1 to 4; - a second actuation cylinder (10 ') comprising a body that forms a first chamber (22') and a second chamber (24 ') that are designed to receive an actuation fluid, said chambers being separated from each other by a piston (20 ') connected to an actuation rod (14') and capable of moving said body in a first direction, in which the volume of the second chamber increases while the volume of the first chamber decreases and in a second direction, in which the volume of the second chamber decreases while the volume of the first chamber increases; - a hydraulic synchronization member that connects said first chamber (22) of said first actuation cylinder (10) and said second chamber (24 ') of said second actuation cylinder (10'). 8. HYDRAULIC MACHINE OF THE TYPE TURBINE, PUMP OR PUMP-TURBINE, characterized by comprising a corridor (52) and a sealing ring (40) capable of moving between an opening position and a closing position of at least one channel ( 58) that supplies that corridor with water and: Petition 870190098209, of 10/01/2019, p. 22/27 9. METHOD FOR OPERATING AN ACTUATING CYLINDER (10), as defined in any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that a fluid with a predetermined pressure (P) is fed to said first chamber (22) through said first duct ( 26) to move said piston in said second direction (II) and the same fluid with the same predetermined pressure (P) is fed to said second chamber (26) through said second duct (28) to move said piston in said first direction (I).